Do you use metal clay? (Like Art Clay Silver and Gold.) Or metal sheet?
If you do metalwork, making a smooth finished product is a major goal. Dapping punches with their ball-shaped ends are a huge help. They’re used to “dome” metal. (So some call them “doming punches”.) Think of adding depth to pendants…or making each half of your own unique bead!
“Dappling” punches (as we’ve also seen them called) are usually used in an affordable set with another dapping tool…
Dapping blocks are a block of wood or steel with domes (half-spheres) of various sizes indented into the sides.
You just place the metal, or metal clay, against one of the dimples in the dapping block. Then you work it smooth, rounding it by “dapping” at it with the punch.
Dapping blocks are also wonderful for forming a domed filigree, as Mara Marlow did in her “Eglantyne” necklace for the Rings & Things Your Designs Rock design contest:
Domed filigrees made with a dapping block
Share dapping ideas — leave a comment!